Stop the elephant slaughter

Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra:

As a global citizen, I urge you to ban all ivory trade in Thailand. I find it shocking that Thailand -- the host of the UN summit on endangered species -- is also the world’s largest unregulated ivory market and a top driver of the illegal trade. Criminals smuggle in illegally obtained African ivory, mix it in with legal Thai sources so no one can tell them apart, then get away with selling it on the open market. You can stop this by banning the Thai ivory trade now.

Posted: 28 February 2013Across Africa, elephants are being slaughtered by poachers in record numbers -- and their tusks hacked off with chainsaws -- to make luxury items, statues and trinkets in Asia. But in days, Thailand will host a key global summit on illegal trade in endangered species, giving us a rare chance to stop this futile massacre.

Thailand is the world’s largest unregulated ivory market and a top driver of the illegal trade.They’ve been in the hot seat for years, yet so far little has been done to clamp down on their role in the elephant attack. But Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has just announced that she is considering a full ivory ban. That's why we started a global petition on the Avaaz site, to give this campaign the last push it needs to win.

This is the best chance we’ve had in years to have a meaningful victory for Africa’s elephants -- we just need to put people power behind it. Join me now to stop the bloody ivory trade. Sign the urgent petition and share it with everyone.